Chapter 1584: Germany and Italy Share the Loot
Although it seemed that East Africa had gained an advantage in the independence of the Kingdom of Dalmatia, it actually suffered a great loss. After all, compared with the benefits brought to East Africa by the Austro-Hungarian Empire under the rule of the Habsburgs, the Kingdom of Dalmatia was completely incomparable.
During the Habsburg period, East Africa was able to share the entire Austro-Hungarian market, although there were restrictions, because the Austro-Hungarian market was large.
Now, the majority of this tens-million-level market is basically in the hands of Germans.
…
December 28, 1934.
Berlin, Germany.
At this moment, Adolf and senior German government officials were meeting separately with Italian negotiators to bargain over Venice, Eastern Lombardy, and even the Istria Peninsula.
For this negotiation, Benito of Italy personally led a team to Berlin to meet with his "junior" Adolf.
After all, Benito is a veteran of extreme nationalist parties in Europe and even the world. He established the world's first extreme nationalist regime. Adolf's thoughts were influenced by Benito, so it is not a big problem to say that Adolf is Benito's "younger generation".
In Adolf's official residence.
"Mr. Benito, welcome to Germany. I have admired you for a long time." Adolf still entertained Benito warmly.
Benito extended his hand in return and said, "Prime Minister Adolf, you are now one of the most sought-after political figures in Europe. We both share great ideals. I believe that under the leadership of Italy and Germany, Europe will move towards a brighter future."
Although Benito really wanted to say that Italy and Germany were the leaders of Europe, unfortunately, Italy's current national strength was not enough to lead Europe, let alone stand up to Germany. This time when he went to Berlin, he still had to ask Adolf for help, so he could only emphasize Italy's role in a somewhat stiff and euphemistic way.
However, Benito still put Italy ahead of Germany. This was his last act of stubbornness, and Adolf did not notice these details.
After taking over most of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Adolf is now in high spirits. As long as he can promote the German-Austrian merger, he will become one of the greatest figures in German history.
At the same time, after annexing the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany naturally became the undisputed number one power in Europe, so Adolf had already placed himself in the position of a European leader.
He said: "Europe really needs a reshuffle, especially the existence of the evil empire of the Soviet Union, which is the biggest cancer in Europe. There are also countries like Britain and France that are unworthy of their positions. They have long monopolized Europe's resources but have failed to bring Europe to the level it deserves."
"Over the years, Britain and France have been primarily responsible for the rise of the United States and East Africa. The rise of these extra-regional powers is the direct cause of Europe's decline."
"Therefore, if we want to lead Europe to re-consolidate its position as the center of world civilization, outstanding political leaders must play a key role."
"And Mr. Benito will definitely have a place among the best leaders in Europe. If Italy can cooperate with Germany under your leadership, I believe that Europe will return to the top of the world through the joint efforts of our two countries."
Here Adolf still complimented Benito subtly. After all, the two had many consensuses in their ideas. Praising Benito was equivalent to praising himself and praising the extreme nationalists.
Of course, this did not prevent Adolf from looking down on Italy as a "second-class nation". In Adolf's worldview, Italy was similar to countries like East Africa and Dalmatia.
Fortunately, they were not at the bottom of the society. Adolf regarded Slavs, Jews, Roma (Gypsies) and blacks as "inferior races".
Adolf did not divide the Italians into two types. First, the northern Italians were classified as "Mediterranean race", which belongs to the broad European white race, but is far from Adolf's ideal "Nordic" blond and blue-eyed image. In Adolf's eyes, the southern Italians have an even lower status.
He considered Italians "lazy," "disorderly," and influenced by "inferior blood," which echoed Adolf's attitude towards East Africa.
However, Italy and East Africa can at least be considered "second-class nations", so it is not impossible to cooperate. Therefore, Adolf tends to be pragmatic in his attitude towards Italy.
At least, when he talked to Benito, Adolfo avoided the subject, but privately it was another matter.
The same is certainly true of Benito. German extreme nationalism looks down on Italians, and Italian extreme nationalism, in turn, looks down on Germans.
However, although Benito's thoughts were reactionary, he was actually more progressive than the crazy racists like Adolf.
In Benito's national narrative, he believes that the Italian nation is not a blood entity, but is based on spiritual, cultural and political identity, which is somewhat similar to East Africa.
For example, Benito believed that other ethnic groups could be "Italianized".
Benito also publicly ridiculed Germany's biological racism as "nonsense" and "primitive Pan-Germanism." In the early 1930s, he even allowed Jews to join the party.
However, Benito's ideas in his previous life were later influenced by Germany and changed and could not be maintained. The turning point occurred after Italy's failure to conquer Ethiopia in his previous life.
Today, Italy does not even have the chance to "enjoy" this defeat. After all, the cake of the Abyssinian Empire was divided by East Africa, and the gap between Italy and East Africa is so large that Italy cannot even have any bad thoughts.
Italy's attitude towards East Africa is also very complicated. On the one hand, Italy cannot do without East Africa. For example, in terms of food and mineral imports, East Africa is Italy's main supplier. On the other hand, the existence of East Africa does make Italy envious. After all, the land and resources occupied by East Africa are too enviable.
Back to the topic, after Adolf and Benito complimented each other, they officially began the theme of this meeting.
Benito spoke first, "Now that Germany has conquered Austria-Hungary, we naturally support Germany's efforts to stabilize the situation in Austria-Hungary. However, the Italian territories that Austria-Hungary had previously occupied should also be returned to Italy."
"This is Italy's legitimate demand, including eastern Lombardy, Venice, Trieste, Istria, and parts of the southern foothills of the Alps, which should all return to their homeland."
Italy has a big appetite. There is indeed no dispute over Eastern Lombardy and Venice. After all, Italy did rule these areas in the last century. However, Trieste and the Istrian Peninsula have basically nothing to do with Italy.
Italy's request immediately triggered Germany's opposition. Goebbels said: "The above-mentioned areas were originally the territories of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Germany has no right to divide the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire."
"We can persuade Austria-Hungary to return Eastern Lombardy as compensation to Italy, and parts of Venice. We can also negotiate."
"However, other regions should respect historical and current factors. For example, there are a large number of German residents in Venice now, and we cannot drive them out of their homes."
In Eastern Lombardy, Italians hold an absolute dominant position, so it does not matter if it is given to Italy. Holding it in hand will increase the cost of ruling. The Venetian region is more special. The Austro-Hungarian Empire persisted in immigrating to the local area, so that the population structure of Venice has undergone tremendous changes.
Therefore, Germany is not very willing to let go of this place. At the same time, Venice is also a good port with an important geographical location and fertile surrounding land, which can bring real benefits to Germany.
However, the Italians clearly could not accept only the recovery of Eastern Lombardy. Benito said, "This is impossible. We have paid a huge price to recover our homeland in Italy. We have mobilized over 700,000 troops alone, and now more than 100,000 troops have been sacrificed in Venice and Eastern Lombardy."
"Therefore, Eastern Lombardy and Venice must all return to Italy. At the same time, Italy should also take back Trieste and the Istrian Peninsula, where Italians are present."
"These were originally Italian territories, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire was powerful before, so it used unfair means to forcibly seize these areas from Italy."
Goebbels obviously disagreed. He retorted, "If we go by ethnicity, then there are Germans in Venice and Eastern Lombardy as well. Can we use this as a reason to claim both places?"
"Although there are a certain number of Italians in Trieste, the number is actually not large, so this cannot be used as a legal basis for Italy to exercise jurisdiction over the area."
"Therefore, Trieste and the Istrian Peninsula are undisputed. Even if they do not belong to Austria-Hungary, they cannot belong to Italy. After all, these areas are now in the hands of the illegal country of Yugoslavia."
"Yugoslavia is actually part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This issue will be resolved later. However, it has nothing to do with Italy."
Benito objected, saying, "As early as the Roman era, these lands were where the ancestors of Italy lived. The Slavs and Germans came later, so Italy has indisputable ownership of the above areas."
At this time, Benito even brought up ancient Rome. Ancient Rome did originate in Italy, but obviously the territory of ancient Rome cannot be applied to the present. Otherwise, Italy can use the same reason to say that many places, including France and Britain, have been Italian territory since ancient times.
The German side naturally could not agree with Benito's outrageous remarks, and the negotiations between the two sides were deadlocked for a while.
At this time, Adolf spoke up: "Okay, Italy and Germany are friendly friends, so we should make concessions to each other. As for the territorial dispute along the Adriatic coast, I think we can discuss it slowly next."
"Italy did rule Eastern Lombardy and Venice, but they were later occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so it is only right that they should be returned to Italy."
"However, the importance of Trieste to the Austro-Hungarian Empire is self-evident. After all, it is the most important seaport for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so it should continue to remain within the Austro-Hungarian Empire."
"I suggest that we base our decision on the territorial divisions of the two countries, based on the previous century, before the Italo-Austrian War, and coordinate the implementation of military occupation zones. Finally, we can come up with a territorial division plan that everyone can accept. Mr. Benito, what do you think?"
Adolf was willing to make concessions, and Benito didn't want to be too forceful, but the dispute between the two sides was indeed too great, so Benito said: "We can talk about this matter slowly, but Italy must get its due. The full return of Eastern Lombardy and Venice is the bottom line. We can make concessions in other disputed areas, but we can't leave them without gains."
Adolf agreed with Benito's statement, which was equivalent to Germany giving up Venice. Of course, in order to accommodate the population, the Po River Plain could not be handed over entirely to Italy.
As a result, the two sides engaged in a two-week debate on how to divide the border, and finally decided to use the Tagliamento River as the boundary, with all areas west returning to Italy and areas east remaining in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Germany made concessions, but also asked Italy to cooperate with Germany in other areas, such as the next issue of Yugoslavia and the pressure from Britain, France and other countries. The two countries should advance and retreat together.
This was actually a set of practices by Germany to try to pull Italy into its own camp and create a rift between Italy and Britain and France.
However, for the sake of immediate interests, Benito still accepted Germany's request. After all, if Germany really wanted to interfere in Venice, Lombardy and other places and forcibly divide these areas to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy really had no good way to deal with it.
Obviously, countries like Britain and France would not confront Germany head-on for Italy's territorial claims. They would only encourage Italy and Germany to go to war and provide loans to Italy.
Knowing that countries like Britain and France are unreliable, Benito will not place his hopes on them, but would rather resolve the territorial issue through negotiations with Germany.
So, in early 1935, Germany and Italy formally held final negotiations on territorial issues and divided the interests of both sides.
Then, the two countries began to point their spearheads at Yugoslavia and Dalmatia, two countries that declared independence.
As for the Kingdom of Dalmatia, there was no legal problem because of the succession of Charles I. At the same time, there was Yugoslavia between it and Germany and Italy, and it had the support of East African countries, so it landed smoothly. However, it also sold some non-core interests to Germany and Italy in exchange for the two countries' tacit recognition of its independence.
The problem of Yugoslavia was more acute. After all, Germany would never allow Yugoslavia to control areas such as Trieste, and Yugoslavia did not want to give up Trieste and other places easily.
Finally, after mediation by Britain and France, Yugoslavia, as the weakest party, had to make concessions and return most of Slovenia to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
However, Germany and its puppet government of Austria-Hungary had to recognize the independence of the remaining parts of Yugoslavia, namely all of Croatia and Bosnia, and parts of eastern Slovenia.
As a result, the Austro-Hungarian War gave birth to two new independent countries. Italy, Poland, Western Ukraine and other countries also benefited, and Germany began to prepare to annex the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
(End of this chapter)
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